A wonderful O2A2 and our first! Thanks to everyone who played, left comments and provided ratings. It was great to be involved in such a widely participated game jam for the first time. We wanted to take a step back and think about what went right, what went wrong and what we learnt. Here are some personal comments from Hyakuten Games - a 2 woman team who created the game.

Comments from Hyaku

"I wanted to try a different art style so it stood out from our previous game, Royal Duality, in terms of the art direction. I was very proud of the CG especially Blaec's expression (if you zoom in you can see him crying). Also the game links back to the portraits on the wall in the hospital room background in Royal Duality (True End Epilogue for die-hard fans!)."

Comments from Ten

"I really liked the snow effect that we worked into the game's UI, it was a great way to add a bit more environmental feel into the project, also- as much as I love music, there's something desolate and barren about nature just doing it's thing- the wind howling, it will carry on and not 'die down' for dramatic effect - unlike music."

What went right

• We worked together in person on a project for the first time. It was a very special way to collaborate, after years of working online together, it was nice to be in the same room, drawing, coding and writing- quiet, but very productive.
• We kept the scope small. Our first game, Royal Duality, was incredibly ambitious at 70k words, voice acted with unlockables, bonuses and many endings. We wanted to deliver a small contained experience and we did that successfully!
• We tried things we hadn't done before. Different art styles, different characters, a different kind of narrator... this project had a lot of 'first times'. We looked at particle effects like snow and it made it feel different

What went wrong - what we'd do differently...

• Elaborate more on the vampire/Fae war: There is a bit of this in Royal Duality and 'The Perfect Specimen' - but we've listened to player feedback and we'd like to make a game that focuses on this topic so that it's good to reference and adds to the fabric of the Royal Duality world.
• Add a few more choices: There was a small encounter and only 2 choices - with little differences, it would have been good to add a little more variety into the game, not necessarily different endings, but more opportunities to manipulate the playthrough experience. It was a 'two and you're done', perhaps we could have made some of the encounters a little more...unique, making multiple playthroughs more rewarding.

What did we learn?

• Adding browser compatibility makes a difference: Many of our games are not really optimal for browser play, mostly due to length or engine choice. We saw a really positive difference in adding this, with more playthroughs, more ratings and more feedback, which helps make our games even better.
• Small projects are great place to learn and try new things: We were really happy with this, it was small, achievable and satisfying to work on, the limitations of the jam let us be creative and challenged us in all areas! For the better, things became more concise, effects were more impactful and the story was digestible and easily playable.

What's next?

We have lots of projects in the pipeline, 

• One focuses on the Fae and Vampire war (as player feedback showed this was an area of interest) 
• A sequel to Royal Duality.
• An exciting new addition to the horror series we've been working on...

So there's a lot to look forward to from Hyakuten Games. Thank you all once again, stay safe and enjoy the wonderful world of Visual Novels!